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Lawrence Talbot returned home after receiving a letter from the fiance of his brother, Ben Talbot, informing him of his missing brother and pleading him to help search for him. Upon returning home, he met his father, Sir John Talbot whom he has never kept in touch for years. He soon learned of his brother mysterious death, believing it to be murdered by a mad man or as some villagers believe, killed by the gypsy's bear. His brother's fiance, Gwen Conliffe, once again pleaded with Lawrence to search for the real cause of her lover's death. Lawrence agreed and went out to the gypsy camp to learn more about his brother's visit to the camp prior to his death.
While in the camp, he soon learn from a gypsy named Maleva, of a beast, the Wolfman, a transformation from a cursed man into a wolf like creature under the light of the full moon. The beast then arrived and rampaged the camp. In the midst of the chaos, a boy ran from the camp and was pursued by the beast. Lawrence gave the beast a chase but ended up being attacked and bitten by it. He survived from the attack, now knowing that the beast was responsible for his brother's death, but was disappointed that the beast was still out there. During his recovery from his wound, he began to discover something more horrifying than facing the beast itself, becoming the beast itself.
Directed by Joe Johnston, the same guy who directed Jumanji, Jurassic Park III and Hidalgo, this remake of the classic horror film stars Benicio Del Toro as Lawrence Talbot, Anthony Hopkins as Sir John Talbot, Emily Blunt as Gwen Conliffe, Hugo Weaving as Inspector Francis Aberline of Scotland Yard and Geraldine Chaplin as Maleva.
I was very excited when I read the news of this movie being a proper horror film with a very famous monster taking the limelight. It's not a film being a crossover of an all-star monsters of horror like in Van Helsing and not being a false distorted form of werewolf which loses every nature of being horrifying to become an eye candy in New Moon. This Wolfman goes back to what makes Werewolves one of the most horrifying creatures that emerged from Hollywood history. I applaud the filmakers for the direction they are going and the vision they had, because I absolutely hate the Lycans of the Underworld and what they've done to the Werewolves in New Moon... I especially hate what they've done to vampires and witches, because they've absolutely lost all sense of being scary. Even the Mummy is no longer scary. So, I was hoping this movie will do much justice to all the horror monsters out there.
Coming out from the cinema, I had mixed feelings about the movie. The movie was good in general, but I felt it still didn't define the meaning of horror as how the original 1941 movie did in its time. I would definitely praise the film for its slow revelation of the monster. There was enough tease in the first half of the film and to finally shock us when the monster's full face is revealed. Wait...the monster showed his face halfway through the movie? No, a matter of fact, the monster showed his true form even before you've watched the movie. Yup, it's on the poster even before you bought the tickets or step anywhere close to the cinema! The monster in all of its glory! So, when watching the movie, there was no real shock. I'm going to blame this on the publicity department, because I really love the direction of the slow revelation of the monster on screen. I could very well turn into a Werewolf and hunt the people responsible for the unashamed spoiler they did to me and the movie audience.
Another aspect I would praise the film for is the art direction. Many of the shots are creepily beautiful. I love the mist in forest, the set design of the interior of the buildings, especially the Talbot manor, the use of lighting of the moon, even the costume the actors wore were absolutely amazing (The tiger skin Anthony Hopkins had, speaks volumes about his character). I especially love the color palette the movie uses. The choice of colors played a lot in painting the scene to be dark and creepy in nature without having much of use of black. The night exteriors emits a shivering cold environment with the use of dark blue and the interiors have an eerie surrounding with a dim lighting from candles, fireplace and even from sunlight through the curtains. There's a gothic and dark feel to the environment, and I believe it's also the choice of the Victorian setting adds to it, rather than having it take place in the 40s as in the original movie.
Apart from its visuals, the sound is quite superb as well. When I meant sound, I meant the sound that the Wolfman makes. He doesn't woof and doesn't pant. He growls, breathes, roars and yes.... howls... iconically! The sound is the key feature in creating the monster. This movie pulled it off perfectly in creating the sounds of this monster. When you think this monster sound takes the limelight, you forget every pant, heavy breathing from other characters around that also adds much to the scene. Much of the time, I'm unaware of the soundtrack and the music being played. And that's a good thing! Compare this movie's transformation scene to that of the 1941 one that uses intense music to make it horrifying. I have to mention this again, the HOWL is awesome!
When speaking about the creation of the monster, I have to also praise the make up department. That is one absolutely amazing werewolf make up! It's funny to think back in 1941, they have to rely on heavy make up to make their man as much as a wolf, and here we are in the 20th century with computer generated creatures are made with very detailed realism, we could easily (and terribly) turn a man into a wolf (New Moon). The filmakers chose instead to go back to the basics in creating this monster and never have a non-CG creature looks so amazing. I absolutely love it when films resort back to make up, puppetry, models and suited man, because there's a certain magic behind them that CG can't give. What do you think makes Chewbacca, ET, R2-D2, The Terminator, Aliens and Lord of the Ring's creatures so special? It takes certain skill, commitment and devotion from the make up department, the actor behind the mask/suit and the sound department to pull off the perfect creature. It's an art form which could very well be lost in the future with the advancement of CG.
Why then do I have mixed feelings? Well, there were plenty of drawbacks from the films as well. Like I said, I didn't feel one bit scared from the movie. I don't know if the film is just not scary or the monster formula loses its touch in our modern era cinema. They definitely got the monster formula right, from its slow revelation of the monster to it's horrifying acts not clearly seen and to be left in the imaginations of the viewers. But somehow audience today has gotten use to it that bringing back the formula doesn't give the impact it originally have. There was plenty of blood being spilled, which used to give the "OMG" experience but today's audience are very much desensitized, unless you squeezed enough blood out to make audience uncomfortable like Quentin Tarantino would do...still no horror from that, just discomfort.
SPOILERS AHEAD
The story also suffered a little. The story did a good job in setting up the introduction of the characters and their roles and their contribution to the story, but I felt it could have been better. I loved the build up to the transformation of Lawrence into the Wolfman, especially with the idea of not showing the Werewolf true form until the scene of Lawrence's transformation. I also love that the story goes more than just about a man turning into a monster, but also the discovery of something more sinister in the history of the Talbot family. However, the revelation that Lawrence father was in fact the Werewolf that murdered his mother and brother, as well as the showdown between Lawrence and his father as werewolves felt rather silly. I would very much prefer to only have one Wolfman around at a time. Or have the revelation that the Wolfman that murdered Lawrence brother was actually his father, after having that Wolfman killed and transformed into his father in human form. That would have not only left Lawrence shocked at the discovery but also to the audience. Only then have Lawrence turned into the Wolfman.
Another part of the story I didn't like was the poor execution of the romance. I liked the idea where the romance between Lawrence and Gwen was necessary for the downfall of the beast, because it is only Gwen whom Lawrence loved, could be up close to the beast and finally shot him right through the heart. However, the build up of the romance between Lawrence and Gwen at the antique shop was badly handled. I didn't find it believable, as much as the short lived love between Lawrence's brother and Gwen... How did they even end up being engaged?
There was also the aspect of psychological fear in Lawrence dealing with him being the Wolfman, and dealing with the horrifying revelation about his father and the death of his brother and mother. It was an interesting plotline which I believed also failed horribly in execution. His hallucination and nightmares he gets from the treatment he received at the mental institution, felt like it was meant for cheap scare and shock. However, done properly, the beast could not only be horrifying on the outside but also on the inside. It could have given a lot of depth to the monster and also to the character of Lawrence.
SPOILER ENDS HERE
Another complain I have is the acting in the movie. The movie have a good array of cast, but somehow they fail to deliver. I'm not sure if its the director's or the actor's fault. I find it very very interesting that they cast Benicio Del Toro as the Wolfman, possibly because he is a big fan of Hollywood movie monsters and I believe that's a good key, because you really want someone who knows the original monster and knows the importance of delivering that same monster in this film. I believed he took his role as the monster very serious, and he really did deliver an epic performance as the monster but somehow I find him as the human Lawrence not as superb. His performance was very bland as a normal person, but when he's in the role being sick, tortured or undergoing the transformation and being the full formed monster, his acting was superb.
Anthony Hopkins, one of the heavyweight actors in Hollywood, delivered his performance rather well but not really at the top of his game. He shaped out his character as a villian and a disturbing distant father very well. He gives you the feeling that inside him was very much a monster, perhaps more monstrous than the Wolfman. As for Emily Blunt, her performance was felt very bland as well. I don't buy her feelings for Lawrence or his brother. The only time I did see something in her acting was when she hid behind the tree trying to escape the Wolfman. Other than that, there's was hardly anything to commend about.
And then we have Hugo Weaving, I'm most displease with his performance because it reminded me so much of Agent Smith from The Matrix. He was different in Lord of the Rings, different in V for Vendetta... But this Inspector Francis Aberline of Scotland Yard has too much of Agent Smith in his mannerism and execution of his lines. You would probably feel it is actually Agent Smith with a fake moustache. This movie could have been a potential ground for him to portray a different character and to show his skills as an actor.
Overall, I can say the film is good, not the best though. They will definitely scare some people in the audience but likely too, the film won't scare most of the audience. Whether or not you come out of the cinema feeling like a Wolfman yourself, it is a film worth to enjoy as a homage to the classic horror film and as an interesting work of art. I do hope Universal Studios will do more remake films such as this. I would love to see a remake of Dracula and Frankenstein in the future.
I would give this movie out a 7 of 10 silver bullets.
Now a little treat:
THE TRANSFORMATION OF THE WOLFMAN BEFORE YOUR VERY EYES!
